Psalms 94:2-12

2 You are the judge of us all; rise and give the proud what they deserve!
3 How much longer will the wicked be glad? How much longer, Lord?
4 How much longer will criminals be proud and boast about their crimes?
5 They crush your people, Lord; they oppress those who belong to you.
6 They kill widows and orphans, and murder the strangers who live in our land.
7 They say, "The Lord does not see us; the God of Israel does not notice."
8 My people, how can you be such stupid fools? When will you ever learn?
9 God made our ears - can't he hear? He made our eyes - can't he see?
10 He scolds the nations - won't he punish them? He is the teacher of us all - hasn't he any knowledge?
11 The Lord knows what we think; 1 he knows how senseless our reasoning is.
12 Lord, how happy are those you instruct, the ones to whom you teach your law!

Psalms 94:2-12 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 94

Some, as Jarchi and others, think this psalm was written by Moses; others, with greater probability, assign it to David; as do the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and all the Oriental versions; and which all but the Syriac version say it was composed to be sung on the fourth day of the week, on which day the Talmudists say it was sung; see the argument of the preceding psalm. This psalm and others, that go before and follow, are without any title in the Hebrew Bible: the title of it in the Syriac version is,

``a Psalm of David, concerning the company of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram; but spiritually, concerning the persecution against the church;''

not of the oppression of the Israelites in Egypt, as some; nor of the Jews in their present exile, as Kimchi; but rather of the people of God under the tyranny of antichrist; who are represented as complaining of his insults and cruelty, and as comforting themselves in the hopes of deliverance, and in the view of his destruction.

Cross References 1

  • 1. 94.111 Corinthians 3.20.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. them?; [or] our wicked leaders?
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.